Hiding From My Reflection
by La Dormeuse
Summary: Van doesn't like being second to anyone. Especially to Dryden Fassa. But what happens when Dryden isn't what he seems? And maybe that Kanzaki girl is more than just annoying. So just why does his reflection seem to figure that out first? V/H V/H
1. The Light At The End

A/N: Apologies to everyone! I was on holiday and had major writer's block. I can't believe it's almost been two months since I've updated B&G. This was originally meant to be a theme, but spiralled out of controlled. So this will be another mini-fic. And it should be updated every week! Along with whatever else I can churn out.

GOMEN NASAI!

BTW – this fic is based loosely on the wonderful world of Doctor Who. Don't be put off though! If you've never heard of it, don't worry. I'm just disclaiming that some elements come from the series but hopefully nothing that would confuse as I try and explain most. ;)X

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The Light At The End

He still didn't know why he had taken the Physics course. And his irritation had nothing to do with the fact that the girl sitting at the end of his row paid him no attention, or that she seemed to constantly whisper and giggle with the student sitting in between them. Van was not in any way attracted to Hitomi Kanzaki, she was far too skinny and her hair was too short for his taste. But he couldn't stand the unending stream of muttering that occurred between her and Dryden Fassa.

Looking at the man sitting to his right, he had to wonder just how old the bespectacled man was. For a second year student, the brown haired man seemed far more mature than everyone else in the room. As well as most of the postgraduates. But it wasn't just because of the antique looking glasses Fassa wore, which made him _lickable _according to Millerna and Celena.

Even though Van watched irritatedly lecture after lecture as Dryden and Hitomi whispered insistently, their heads together, sometimes childishly giggling at something; Dryden Fassa still seemed older somehow. He didn't preen like the Freid kid, or act like a criminal as Albatou did and probably was. Van was ever grateful that he had a separate Chemistry class to the pyromaniac.

Just _something_ felt off. And he had no idea what it was. But it deeply aggravated him that the pair beside him playing Basramian Whispers never got caught by the Professor. Doctor Isaac Dornkirk may have been old by the students' standards but he saw every piece of paper passed by students and every whispering pair. _But never Fassa and Kanzaki!_ He really didn't get it. And that really pissed him off. What was so damn interesting that the pair talked in every lecture? And were never caught?

What was so damn funny about Neutron Implosion?

"_Dogs with no noses!"_

"_But how do they smell?"_

Van twitched as he heard for the first time a snippet of conversation between the chattering pair. He felt astounded as Hitomi finished her question only to look at the bespectacled man's face before giggling as he whispered in return, _"Absolutely awful."_ They were telling jokes a five year old would laugh at!

His aggravation also had nothing to do with the fact that the pair talked constantly, rarely seemed to take notes—Fassa only seemed to doodle, the oddest things too— and yet got the two highest marks in the class. Van Fanel was used to being one of the most intelligent students in a class. But he could _not_ be third to Fassa and Kanzaki who never did any work! The fourth pencil in a week snapped beneath his fingers as two sets of shoulders bounced in silent giggles at a very very stupid joke.

Van stared at the splintered pencil and wondered how hard it would hurt if he stabbed himself with it.

"Doctor Dornkirk?"

His thoughts of self-harm with graphite evaporated as he stared at the man next to him slack jawed. No one, ever, in the history of Dornkirk's fellowship had asked the man a question. Even the silver haired man himself turned from the formulas on the blackboard to stare across the students in the small lecture hall in surprise. "Yes?" Obviously the man hadn't bothered to learn his pupils' names.

"Dryden Fassa, sir. I was curious as to how you would react to the possibility of encountering a neutron implosion and reversing the polarity of the event?" Van's thoughts quickly turned back to the broken pencil in his hand and wondering if he really was turning stupid. The question had made no sense to him whatsoever and it worried him. He had grasped high level physics equations at 13, perfect for his family business and his decision to take a degree in engineering.

So why the hell did he not understand, nor had he _ever_ heard of reversing polarity?

He breathed in deeply, and let go of the pencil as the broken end was starting to hurt in his grip, and he didn't want any more splinters than he'd already gotten that week. Looking up he felt a slight sense of relief at the Doctor's expression. Apparently Dornkirk didn't understand the question either, so _he_ was fine, it was Fassa who was mental.

Van wished he'd been holding the pencil when Dornkirk nodded slowly and replied, "It would produce a great deal of energy. But unstable at that and completely unusable. Far too dangerous, not to mention the potential radiation levels. Almost like attempting to use antimatter as an energy source." Most of the class laughed at the joke at the end. But Van Fanel was silently counting how many brain cells he was losing as Dornkirk _did_ understand Fassa's query. _He_ didn't.

Sitting in morose silence for the rest of the lecture, Van had no idea what would happen to him when the bell would ring. Should he go up to Dornkirk and ask about the reversion of polarity? And try not to sound too dumb when he asked what the hell it all meant. Or should he join his fellow peers and get shitfaced, in an attempt to feel more secure about himself?

The bell rang soon enough and the small group of students slowly made their way out of the cosy lecture hall. Van was still in a stupor over his non-understanding of something _Fassa, Dryden bloody Fassa _had said. He didn't realize that he had actually whimpered until he felt a small, but rather warm hand gently rest against his shoulder, along with a hesitant female voice ask gingerly, "Fanel-san are you ok?"

He turned slowly, still lost in his confusion and stared at concerned green eyes before recoiling in surprise. Van seemed incapable of words even against his enemy, but he felt even more speechless when a mocking, bastard of a voice called out from the door, "Come on Hitomi! Stop flirting and get your skates on!" The hand on his shoulder pulled back speedily, and he noticed the odd blush that erupted along the female's cheeks and down her neck.

Muttering an incoherent attempt at an apology, Van watched as the girl then walked out of the aisle and ran down the steps before smacking the grinning bespectacled git, who laughed and waved at him. Only then did he realize he was the only one left in the now empty lecture hall. He no longer cared about brain cells as he let his head thump against the desk miserably. Pain didn't even reach his tortured state of mind.

xxx

Two days had passed since his mental breakdown, the weekend was now blissfully here and luckily Van hadn't had a physics lecture yesterday. He had been given a girl's number, which was good for his ego but she wasn't someone he would usually go for. But it was still a Saturday, brimming with possibility. Or it would be when he had finished printing his essay out.

Staring at the printer he wondered why Doctor Dornkirk had demanded every essay be typed. _He _had been born a good few decades before Bill Gates had even become a physical possibility, so why weren't handwritten essays acceptable? His own handwriting was perfectly legible. But thinking on the subject as he waited for the infernal machine to spit out just _two_ more pieces of paper he realized that the necessity for typed essays was probably brought about by people like Dryden Fassa and the Kanzaki girl.

From the odd note she had passed to the man next to him that he had seen from the corner of his eye, he could see her handwriting was overtly feminine. Perhaps one of the few characteristics about her that was womanly in the swirls and slants to her letters. Not that he had paid much attention. Still, the malicious machine before him, blinking worse than a frightened pig, had decided it was low on power and could not waste any more precious energy printing two more…just two more damn pages.

_Low on power_? _Low on Power_ he thought angrily. The damn thing was plugged in! And waste energy? Was it going to run a marathon the very next day? The words _polarity reversal_ echoed torturously in his head again and Van wished for a pencil to break in half to give way to his anger or the precious printer in _need of a break_ would be taking a vacation into the garden below, flying out the window.

For a second Van believed it was his imagination or his anger reaching bursting point as the lights in the computer room flickered. He groaned in desperation only a heartbeat later as the room collapsed into darkness accompanied by the tired growl of every computer shutting down as the power failed. He wasn't usually a man of prayer but he could only grip his hands tightly together and ask whatever higher being there was that he had saved his essay on the hard drive or he had put it on a USB as well.

Knowing his luck from that week, it probably wouldn't be on either. And that essay, that _singularly individual_ piece of work could have very well given him enough credit to surpass the two cretins that shamelessly took first and second place in the class. Trying to calm himself as best as possible he wondered if this time it was his imagination as he heard a voice speak from the dark corridor.

It must have been his imagination he desperately decided. Why else would Dryden Fassa be wandering the halls of the Science block at 7 pm on a Saturday evening and saying such a strange thing too? _"Got it! All the power we need, and at the fraction of the price! Thank you OPEC!"_ The words from his personal demon floated in his mind three times before Van made the connection.

Scrambling across the empty darkened computer room, silent without the hum of the computers and rather eerie if he was honest; Van decided that he would be able to strangle the bespectacled bastard in the dark without being discovered as his assailant and slip away happily. But his somewhat gleeful plan caught on a snag, one with apparent wheels as he entangled himself with a computer chair and came within seconds of head trauma. Righting himself and giving a swift but silent kick to the traitorous chair, he slowed his pace to reach the doorway safely and without any further attack from malicious furniture.

Only as he stuck his head into the similarly unlit corridor did he notice a faint red, almost ephemeral glow coming from one of the labs.

What the hell? It made no sense. If all the power was out, what was the strange red glow? And why did it freakishly remind him of the scene in Sleeping Beauty where the Princess was lured to the fatal spinning wheel? Van decided to stop making allusions to Disney films which was slightly worrying in itself. Not to mention the image of him coming across Dryden in a witch's costume, enticing him to prick his finger.

At that stomach churning image he decided to go back to the pitch black computer room, find his bag and USB key and leave. Maybe find some food to calm his own overheating frazzled nerves. It had to be some twisted version of karma he decided as a staggering flash of semi-blinding red light rebounded off the windows and hit his retina. Shakily gripping the wall as his vision properly returned to him he could only thank whatever power had made him turn his back to the direction the light had come from.

His curiosity stoked high he turned back round and stormed along the corridor in the direction of the lab secreting the eerie red glow. Whatever Dryden Fassa was up to, he would find out and hopefully get him kicked out of the college. Maybe Kanzaki too. Life would be good.

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Coming soon:

**Chapter 2: Into The Wardrobe**

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A/N: So what do you guys think? Reviews would be heavenly with the awful weather I'm having. Apologies again for the dry spell! But my holiday gave me lots and lots of phantasmagorical ideas. No, really.

ALSO! I'm now on Twitter, so if you enjoy my crazed ramblings, head to my profile here for the link or look up SuilsSaifir!

Sina xx


	2. Into The Wardobe

A/N: This is important. IMPORTANT! Well not really ^^ But for better grasp of the situation –

http: //upload. wikimedia. org/ wikipedia/ 4/ 49/ English- telephone-box . JPG (take out the spaces) Here's part two! Van gets a big old surprise. Sadly Hitomi doesn't wear a bow round her neck. Or jump out of a cake. Apologies.

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Into The Wardrobe

Life _would_ be good. Or would it?

If Fassa and Kanzaki got kicked out for whatever psychotic experiment they were clearly illegally taking part in, then he would be top of the class again. His rightful place. What he deserved, what he had worked for, ever since he had been a small child. And it really had nothing to do with surpassing his older brother. Really.

Van merely needed to find out what the infernal pair were up to in the Chemistry lab after hours then press the emergency alarm. The campus guards would come running and he would be King of the Class once more. It really wasn't sneaky or underhanded. If Fassa and his little girlfriend were using the lab for illicit means, hijacking campus electricity, then he was really doing the University a service.

What if they were secretly making drugs? Crystal meth? It would explain the strange jokes and weird notes the two passed to one another. Not to mention how tired Kanzaki looked in some lectures, it all made sense. But what caused the flash of red light? No Bunsen burner was that strong.

He could easily press the alarm and let the Security Guards handle it.

But, there was this tiny sensation nagging him to go and find out for himself. If he really thought about it, whatever Fassa and his minion were up to could be dangerous. If they were using volatile chemicals and formulas, sending in the Campus Security could only make it worse. So the decision was made for him. He would sneak along to the lab producing the strange, eerie red glow and figure out what the pair were up to. It really didn't make any sense at all.

Van decided to ignore the snarky voice that told him he was being lured in by the strange red light in the darkness and then a very odd whirring sound, sending the hairs on the back of his neck to a 90 degree angle. He also disregarded the feeling he was being lured into the gingerbread house by a wicked witch. But he had to find out. What could Kanzaki possibly be up to? Was it something that made her clever?

Were they hacking into the College system and stealing the quiz and exam answers?

It still wouldn't explain Fassa's random questions in class. Or the sudden hijacking of electrical power. Maybe Van needed to think about it first. Kanzaki did seem rather prone to violence when the bespectacled moron whispered in her ear on a few occasions. Could she have a gun? For protection? He would have to be careful moving around in the pitch black of the corridor, not wanting to scare or warn them of his approach.

Taking a deep breath and blinking to adjust to the brightness of the red light growing in intensity as he approached the last chemistry lab in the building, he leant against the wall for a second to compose his thoughts. Fassa and Kanzaki were always making strange comments, they seemed almost high at times and yet got the highest marks in the class. He had watched Kanzaki take a nap for three quarters of a lecture once, unnoticed by anyone else. They often ran into lectures looking breathless and worn out.

Turning his gaze to the red haze of light from the gap in the door, it came to him. He had seen the red glow before! On his way to the Sciences building, passing the small alleyway behind the canteen he had seen a red haze a few times. And it was always afterwards that the odd pair would run into lectures a few seconds late. Often both looking as if they had been running for their lives.

That was usually when the strange conversations took place. If he remembered correctly he had heard Kanzaki mention Galileo under her breath before commenting,_ I've always liked Italians but his chat up about exploring the law of falling bodies was awful!_ Van had struggled to pay attention to the rest of the lecture, wondering what the eccentric girl had been smoking. Or what sort of code she was using.

It was a very worrying thought, but a possibility. Even so, how the hell would Fassa and his tagalong have managed to create a robot? And he wasn't thinking of the metal boxes on Robot Wars. Highly advanced technology. Kanzaki was Japanese. They were known for technological developments. Or her parents were from Japan, he barely remembered the fragments of conversation _she_ had initiated from time to time. He didn't like being talked down to. Or that smirk on her face, and how she never managed to look him in the eye.

"Dryden! Will you stop fiddling with the screen! There are more important things than watching Buffy!! I need help over here!"

Van stopped mid-insult at her voice. If there was one compliment he could give Hitomi Kanzaki, it was that she seemed to oddly balance and even out Dryden Fassa's odd nature. He was still thrown off balance by the exchange he still didn't understand between Professor Dornkirk and the four eyed twit. But in retrospect, he could remember Hitomi tapping Fassa on the head a good many times to stop him interjecting the unassuming professor.

Still, he had to find out what they were doing. His conviction set like concrete as the red glow flickered before brightening harshly again and he saw a shower of sparks fly out the door into the darkness before him. He had to blink at the spots of colour that obscured his visions. Breathing in deeply he heard muffled curses from both occupants of the room but it was Dryden's voice that irritatingly baffled him once again. "Look! The micro-stabilizers are calibrating backwards! Fascinating!"

Clenching his fists and taking silent steps towards the doorframe, he caught himself from tripping over an electric cable that ran across the floor. Van was unable to even blink as he gingerly walked into the room filled with the deep crimson glow. The desks were empty. No Bunsen burners were alight, there wasn't any lab equipment anywhere.

Instead he found himself reaching out for a desk to stop himself from kissing the ground. Inhaling in shock and managing to keep upright, disentangling himself from what had trapped his feet, he gasped at the sight. Squinting with the red glow as the only source of light, his mouth gaped open as he stared at the floor. There was a river of cables, all sizes, colours and lengths reaching from every plug socket in the wall. They formed a path, tangling and writhing to the front of the room by the whiteboard like a nest of snakes. Where Van could only stare at the sight.

The red glow was being emitted from a Phone box. Providing light for the whole darkened room. An English red Phone box, just like the one in Epcot. And he was sure that the ones in Britain didn't smoulder with a radiance of the same brick red colour. Even the sign at the top of the door shimmered in white like a neon sign above a bar.

Also the door and side of the phonebox that he could see had blacked out windows. This was definitely wrong. But the strangest addition had to be a small red flashing light on the top of the phone box, looking as if it had been stolen off an unmarked police car. Was this all some sort of prank?

The blacked out windows were the least of his concern.

His gaze narrowed to see past the odd crimson glow produced by the phone box to focus his gaze on the outline of a female. The glow flickered, illuminating her as if she too was bathed in radiance but Van stopped examining her person for a weapon to see the handful of heavy duty power cables in her hands. He watched as she bent down, shifting even more cables with her foot, then reaching inside the phone box with the handful of wires in her hand.

It was nothing more than the glow surrounding her that made his gaze shift to her rear posterior. Kanzaki was wearing rather tight jeans. And he couldn't help but notice the rather calf enhancing boots sticking out of the phone box. A flurry of sparks jerked his attention back to the perplexing sight, making him shift away from the spot that had erupted into fireworks. Scanning the room, he could hear no sign of Dryden and yet Hitomi had been speaking to him. So where was he?

Van tried to move away from the thicker cables, treading as softly as possible so he didn't end up as a firework display himself. He had to grip another desk as a loud clatter broke the quiet hum of the room. It was a strange instinct but something told him to go to the phonebox, what was Kanzaki doing in there? And why hadn't she reappeared?

But there was another instinct. Deeper inside him that told him to walk away. The same nerves that gave him goosebumps were telling him to leave. Screaming to leave. Taking another tentative step forward, he stopped and stood perfectly still as Kanzaki walked out of the tiny box, shifting more cables with a pointed boot. She didn't seem to pay him any attention, moving round the side of the Phone box as if it was perfectly normal to have such an object in a Chemistry lab.

Van stayed silent. Even with his genius, and he wasn't boasting, something told him to stay silent. Clearly the pair weren't using the lab as a crack factory. But what? And why the hell was there a mock British Red Phone Box? Where the hell had they got it? There was still no explanation for the flood of cables across the room.

It was another thing that made him uneasy. Why were all the cables leading up to the Phone Box? What was inside?

He was jerked out of the contemplative reverie as he watched the girl bathed in a red glow bang on the side of the Phone box with a clenched fist. Silent, he found himself even more confused as she grit her teeth and yelled angrily, "Dryden! Buffy may be _The Chosen One_, but she's not going to help fix this bloody machine!" Why was she hitting the Phone Box? Where was Dryden?

His jaw dropped a second later as the male bane of his life appeared, the door of the Phone Box pushed open and from behind it Dryden Fassa's head appeared. His heart leapt into his throat, worried and baffled as the old-fashioned spectacles glinted with the crimson radiance outlining the box. A grin appeared on the man's face as he replied, rolling his eyes, "I'm not watching Buffy. I'm checking the forcefields and the symbiotic link's charging. You have to watch that."

"I know," came the exasperated sigh from Hitomi, leaning over the back of the Phone box. Van could see with the little light on offer that her hair was hanging across her face, causing her to push it back over her ear repeatedly. But what caught his attention was the expression of such concentration. Something he had never seen before.

He jolted forwards at the sound of the door slamming closed, Dryden disappearing back inside the Phone box. Questions raced through his mind. Space, Volume, Reality. But he still stared at the woman bending over and fiddling with cables on the ground. She had her tongue sticking out, caught between her teeth as she seemed to attach cables to the back of the Red Box.

Van didn't understand any of it. Not a single second. He was so lost in confusion that he didn't see Hitomi stretch up and turn to face him. He missed the screwdriver fall from her hand in shock as she blinked at him, owlishly. Inner turmoil took over, recalling every failure, every moment he hadn't won, or been top of whatever class. Whenever his parents had looked over him to Folken.

"Van?"

He stumbled again, reaching out for anything, chair or desk to impede his fall. Instead a pair of slim, pale arms caught his and stopped him at his knees. He gripped her elbows to steady him as he managed to stand, his shoes rolling on a carpet of electrical cables. Barely managing to keep upright, he let go of the woman supporting him, noting how shocked her expression was. Mirroring his.

"What…what is this?" Surprised that he was even able to speak, Van stared with unbridled curiosity at the girl who once again avoided his gaze. But he knew the reason why, he just didn't know what she was hiding. He had to blink in surprise as she met his gaze then, unflinchingly but something flickered in her gaze as she replied casually, "What, this? Oh nothing, just a prank. Nothing important. How did you get in here?"

"The door was open." He remarked swiftly, learning that Hitomi Kanzaki was a terrible liar. Her cheeks matched the colour of the Phone Box and she seemed to be very uncomfortable with his stare. But that didn't interest him.

The glowing red English Phone Box with a river of cables going into it made him curious. Itch even to see what the hell was inside. Because he could sense that there was something more inside. And Dryden was still inside, with what? And Hitomi had been inside with him. How was there enough space for them? And what were the cables for?

Was it a robot? Had they created a robot that defied the conventions of the International Federation of Robotics? But what would? Really, he just had to find out. It wasn't completely to do with getting both Fassa and Kanzaki kicked out of the College. That would just be a nice bonus.

"So why are you stealing electricity from the University?" He watched as her gaze flitted over his shoulder and back to him nervously. With a grim smile he turned round to see what else she was hiding. He staggered back again, not from the cables underfoot but what he could see by the dim light of the glowing Phone Box.

A panel had been ripped out from the wall, neatly though, but that didn't surprise him. It was the sheer mass of cables that had been fed into the one power cable in the wall that turned his stomach. Dozens of large alligator clips gripped the thick cable in multiple places, the outer casing stripped away baring the wires to the clips hijacking the power. It must have overloaded the building and caused the power outage. Having a fireman as a godfather made him far more aware of fire hazards than most, but this was unbelievably stupid.

He turned back to yell at Kanzaki but she had turned her back to him, staring at the red Phone Box again. Van reached out to grab her arm, but stopped as she whispered, awe clear in her tone, "The Meissner effect." Looking past her, he couldn't help but gasp. The river of cables around the Phone Box, even the ones threading inside it were moving, as if magnetically repelled by the Phone Box.

The Phone Box had somehow magnetized itself, drawing power from the cables and repelling them at the same time, becoming a super conductor. He lost all track of anger or panic at the fire hazard behind him as Dryden appeared, pushing the door of the Phone Box wide open and dancing round it like a drunken loon. "We DID it! We DID IT!"

Van found himself wondering if they _were_ indeed hiding a stash of illegal hallucinogens in the tiny Phone box, watching the Fassa spin round, arms waving and legs kicking in some sort of strange victory dance round the tiny phone box in the gap provided by the repelled cables. Kanzaki too seemed affected, doubling over with peals of hysterical laughter, a small fisted hand hitting the nearest desk as she gasped for breath.

He watched Kanzaki gasp with laughter, muttering under her breath as she beamed at the sight before her. It was a strange thought but she was actually sort of pretty in a plain way. Maybe that was why he had never taken much notice of her, she had never laughed. Well she had in lectures with the four-eyed git moron, but he had always been offended by it, as if they were laughing at him.

Maybe he had been wrong.

But he still didn't understand the Phone Box, nor how it had become a super conductor. Not to mention the overflow of cables, it didn't seem safe in the least. His mind bubbled with questions, though neither of the other occupants of the room seemed to be in a fit state to answer. Van was even wary of reaching out to tap the laughing girl before him.

His hesitance proved useful as the dancing moron with glasses and a long, flowing overcoat finished another circuit of the Phone Box, coming to a stop and turning to his supposed disciple. Kanzaki didn't seem the type to think up crazy schemes. It was definitely all Fassa's doing. Maybe she had been coerced into whatever they were up to, threatened perhaps.

"Time to go." He heard Fassa murmur in a serious tone before opening the Phone Box door and stepping inside. Van had so many questions but he felt a desperate need to yell at the girl who got higher marks than him for her outright stupidity. Whatever they were doing, stealing the electricity for, why the hell had she done it in such a dangerous, life threatening manner? The whole building was at risk in the jumble the cable jacks were in.

Any thought of accusation left him as he felt the cables beneath him writhe. With panic he swivelled, desperately trying to keep his balance on top of the uneven carpet of leads as he turned back to the stripped wires feeding dozens of illegal and highly dangerous alligator clips with hijacked electricity. It was strange, almost as if he could see the power surge running under his feet and up towards the blatant fire hazard.

Van had never had an out of body experience until that moment, turning back and darting towards the girl giving him such a baffled stare. Grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the Phone Box just as the set of sparks spat towards him. The cables underfoot twisted again and he prayed he wasn't going to die. He didn't understand why instinct pushed him towards the tiny box which had leads inside it. He just ran, pulling Kanzaki along. He didn't want anyone to die, even because of their own stupidity.

He didn't notice anything was wrong as he yanked the surprisingly light door open and pushed the stumbling girl in before him then jumping inside and letting the door slam behind him.

It was very strange, assuming Dryden was already inside and he had just pushed Hitomi in before him, that he didn't feel squashed to bits inside the box. He had seen on TV once people trying to push as many people in a British phone box for a World Record. Even 2 people looked pressed for space. So why couldn't he feel any lack of space or hear the echoes of the two others' breathing?

Blinking, he felt his stomach drop at yet another contradiction.

He had supposed that with blacked out windows he would barely see a speck of light. Instead…

He was staring at a room of epic proportions. It was almost the size of the computer room, if not bigger. And it looked…

"What the fuck?"

"Oi! No foul language on my ship thank you." Van wasn't sure if he was breathing, staring at the man with antique looking round pince-nez spectacles, the red glow inhibiting Van from meeting the crazed man's gaze. What had happened? Had he been slipped something? Poisoned? "And what did I tell you about guests Hitomi?"

He turned to see Hitomi standing above him, on a raised platform whereas he was standing on a ramp leading from the door onto some sort of round control centre it seemed. It looked like something under a car's hood, only more wires, buttons, knobs, swirly things and so very very different. It was glowing, a subdued hue but the same brick red as the outside colour.

But it didn't…it couldn't be…it wasn't…human. Was it?

"Oh shush Dryden. He thought the room was going to go up in flames and pushed me in here. Gentlemanly of him, I didn't invite him along!" He watched as she turned and snapped at the bespectacled man roving around a set of controls in a circular fashion. There was even a cushioned armchair raised on the legs of a barstool. And a railing round the edge of the floor a foot or so away from the circular panel.

"This isn't…it's…it's impossible_._" He muttered, stunned and pressing a hand back against the door to reassure him it was still there. The room, if it could be called that was twice, no three times the size of the Phone Box's outer dimensions. Such an equation was physically impossible. Wasn't it?

He stared past Hitomi to look at Dryden, twiddling buttons, pressing various strange things and even spinning an empty hamster's wheel, examining it with utmost concentration. He stood to his full height, looming over him as he was standing on a ramp leading up to the raised platform. Dryden seemed to roll his eyes before nodding and replying in a serious tone, "If you say so."

"So…I…how?" Van couldn't stop himself, no longer caring about potential fire hazards outside, pushing the again strangely lightweight door with all his might and letting the door close behind him. He no longer worried about the cables. Instead he turned and stared at the still glowing Phone Box. It no longer seemed weird, not compared to what was inside.

But how did a room that size fit inside a box so small? Taking his time he walked round the box, the floor free of cables as they were still magnetically repelled so he didn't have to worry about tripping over. He kept a hand against the cool blacked out glass, walking round all four sides before he reached the door again.

Van had no clue why, but he pulled the handle and stepped inside, his footsteps echoing on the metal ramp. No words managed to escape him as Hitomi approached him and gestured to the raised flooring, "Would you mind standing up there? I need to get rid of the cables."

"How?" He asked, stumbling over his own feet as he stood at the very top of the ramp.

Hitomi offered no reply, bending down once more and slid her fingers under an indent in the ramp. He watched in silence, trying his best to ignore all the strange, _alien_ noises coming from behind him. He noticed her narrow her gaze before calmly lifting up part of the ramp, exposing a myriad of wires and glowing spheres under the ramp he had walked on. Was the floor covering a sea of cables?

He jumped as Dryden spoke inches behind him, "Watch this, she's very clever." Van kept his gaze on the honey haired girl crouching by the open panel on the floor, where all the cables seem to feed into. Reaching under the ramp, she seemed to search for something with her fingers before he heard a click. His eyes widened as she jumped back, further up the ramp, the cables on the floor rushing into gap provided and under the flooring.

The multitude of wiring seemed to come to life, whizzing through the door of the phone box and under the ramp at an awesome speed. Truly like a river of snakes writhing into the strange, alien room. It was all over in a few seconds, the end of the cables glinting with the alligator clips attached at the end flowing under the floor. Hitomi moved back to the raised panel of the ramp and turned it over with the toe of her boot, flipping shut with a metallic clang.

"Got that from Vacuum cord retractions. Brilliant! I'd have never thought of that! Genius!" Dryden murmured with a tinge of pride in her voice, Van still watched the girl as she turned towards them, blushing as she replied embarrassed, "It's nothing! And you'd never have thought of it because you've never used a hoover in your life."

"Nah, all that suction into a tiny bag, I'd be worried for my person."

Van didn't understand. None of it made sense.

"It's bigger on the inside." He muttered to himself, trying to figure out what sort of optical illusion it used. Staring at the room again, with such a high ceiling, the tube with pipes moving up and down at a varied pace, the strangeness of what appeared to be controls. The sheer…alienness of it all.

"Yeah it is." Dryden replied, barely sounding concerned or interested. Hitomi seemed to be fiddling with things on the control panel, walking round before stopping at a screen? Tapping it as if it were a touch screen at a subway station.

"It's…I…how…It's so…_alien._" Van couldn't express—

"Well yeah it is. I'd be insulted if you thought it was human in any way." Dryden turned to face him, his gaze almost penetrating as Van worriedly struggled to grasp just exactly what was going on. And how the pair had created such a strange illusion. It made no sense. "Well of course it doesn't make sense Van, you're human."

Blinking in shock at Dryden's calm response, still watching him, he couldn't stop himself from staggering back and yelping as his spine met with the metal rail running the circumference of the room.

"You're…you're an alien?" He whispered, unable to form any coherent thought.

"Yes, I am. A Timelord to be exact."

"Do you…have tentacles?"

"What hidden somewhere you mean?" Again Dryden answered his question without any trace of humour, pausing as if to consider the question before grinning almost manically, "Nope. At least none that I know of. But my mother's family always were prone to experimentation."

Van blinked at the sound of a newspaper hitting the back of Dryden's head. Hitomi appeared beside him and smacked the man again on the arm, rolling her eyes, "Honestly, you don't have to scare him like that." She turned to him and smiled tentatively, "Sorry about him, he's a bit of a prat sometimes."

The words came subconsciously, in sync with the lump rising in his throat, sounding almost like a lost child as he asked, "Are you an alien?" Hitomi blinked in surprise before stifling a laugh and shaking her head. He watched as she used the rolled up newspaper again, smacking the _Timelord's_ head in quick succession before answering, "No, I'm not. I'm human, like you."

Van felt himself go red at the amused smile on her face, not to mention the gales of laughter the apparent alien was enjoying. The newspaper was dropped onto the set of controls by them and a swift kick by the boot clad female brought Dryden back up to his full height. Smiling with glee glinting through his glasses, he gestured dramatically to Hitomi beside him and spoke, "Hitomi is my dear companion."

Looking from one to the other standing before him, he couldn't help himself wonder if that was why there was a raised armchair in the room. He hadn't thought Kanzaki was Fassa's type and vice versa but a string of images came to mind. Strangely, he felt his stomach twist unpleasantly picturing the pair heatedly undress one another, one pushing the other back against the controls…

"We're not like that!" Hitomi cried out, a note of panic in her voice as she glared at him vehemently. "No, we're not," Dryden supported, "She prefers men with black hair, tanned skin—" Again he watched as Hitomi kicked Dryden's shin, making him lean against the rim of the controls for support, groaning in pain as he muttered, "Welcome to the TARDIS."

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**A/N:** Well I hope you're not too confused. Feel free to ask any questions ;) I will answer what I can. Aside from that, hope you all enjoyed! Would love to hear what you think, like, dislike, scream at. Thanks for reading!

For those who want to know more: http: // en. wikipedia. org/wiki /Tardis (remove spaces)

See you next time

Sina xx

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**Thanks go to these Lovely People:**

mysisterisasquijum – Yeah, he does deserve a bit of sympathy, and will deserve a whole lot more!

les amoureux – Van is going to get a lot more competitive ;) ^^ And here's the red glow :D

chibimimi – Well? And Dryden's naturally a genius. *giggles*

Jav-chan – Adorable? You like murderous and slightly unhinged? Oh yeah, Jareth :P

ChiKa YuMe – Again adorable? o.O Interesting. And he will be a lot less clueless.

thepinkmartini – Love for Dryden! And glad you're alright with the genre change.

Storms-winter – Glad you enjoyed!

Morroki – Thank you!

Utuu – Hope the wait wasn't too long.

Lil' Dinky – Yay! A Who-er! Glad you enjoyed! And hope you like Dryden ;) He's not the Doctor, but …


	3. Nice Man From Gallifrey

A/N: Here's chapter two. Hope you enjoy it! Again if you have any questions feel free to ask, I love questions!

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Nice Man From Gallifrey

"TARDIS?"

Van had no clue what to say or do. Not to mention the flare of heat that rushed to his cheeks every time he looked at Hitomi. He had never looked at her _that_ way before and only seconds beforehand his imagination had taken depraved control and painted a rather steamy picture of her entwined with someone who declared himself to be an alien. Nor could he seem to forget the rising discomfort at such an idea.

He definitely needed his head checked.

"Stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." Dryden replied, again fiddling with various spheres, wheels, buttons, and all sorts of strange things on what appeared to be the control panel. He barely sounded interested, almost as if he was brushing him off. Fighting a blush, Van turned to look at the girl who stood before a computer screen of sorts. She too was turning handles and buttons on the side of it, a look of heavy concentration on her face.

It was very strange how she turned towards him a second later, as if she could tell he was watching her. A comforting smile slid across her face and he felt his breath catch as she answered his very thoughts, "Seems a bit unbelievable doesn't it? But Dryden really is alien." A loud, forced cough echoed round the rather cavernous ceiling making Hitomi smirk before she continued, "He prefers the term non-human. Alien is rather a rude thing to say."

"Speciesist if you ask me." Dryden cut in.

"So this is _non-human_ technology?"

"For someone who's _third_ in Physics class, you're not that bright are you?" Van didn't get a chance to find any anger at the pointedly rude comment as a newspaper left Hitomi's hand, flying across the room as if it were a ninja weapon and made a rather satisfying thwack of a noise as Dryden lurched forward, rubbing the back of his head. A tut was heard round the other side of the room but Van was lost by the smile on Hitomi's face. "He needs a good tap every now and again to remind him how to treat us _lower apes._"

He turned at the sound of footsteps on the metal floor, watching as Dryden walked towards them and leant against the rim of the controls before rolling his eyes, "It's a spaceship. And a Time Machine. But more importantly, it's not just any old piece of space junk. It's an actual living organism. You'll discover that for yourself soon enough." Van heard Hitomi gasp in surprise before whispering with evident disbelief, "You're letting him stay?"

"Why not? After all, it'll give you something to do. Distract you from trying to maim Allen."

Affronted, Van cleared his throat and cut across whatever point Hitomi was about to angrily make, "Excuse me but I am standing right here."

"We know." Dryden replied, before taking off his spectacles and suddenly, jarringly looked a great deal older than he usually seemed. "I've got nothing against you Fanel, you may be a little bit dense to some things, but overall you're terribly bright for your species. I've allowed you to see this, I've told you that I'm not human."

"So?"

"So? Trust me child, other people would call up a psychiatric ward. Some would even drag me to a hospital or call the military and hysterically declare I'm a threat to the planet. Just the fact I've even told you my actual race is a dangerous piece of knowledge. Even on this isolated planet."

He didn't get it. One second he could hear and see Dryden clearly and the next he felt his legs give out. A blurred form yelled his name, curling a hand round the back of his clammy neck, stopping him from getting concussion. His back hit the metal rail and Van felt it very difficult to breathe, sounds and images swimming in his mind. A paper bag was put over his mouth and he tried his best to breathe deeply and normally.

Something cold hit his chest and his gasped for breath, his lungs slowly readjusting to whatever had knocked the wind out of him. He managed to raise an overly heavy hand up to his eyes and rubbed at them before blinking a few times and watched silently as a girl with honey coloured hair and vibrant green eyes knelt before him, pressing a stethoscope to his chest. "His pulse is erratic. And it's likely his blood pressure's overly high."

In the distance he heard a faint sigh and what was probably Dryden murmur sardonically, "See that, he practically fainted."

"Lasted longer than Barbie." The girl seemed to be defending him in some way and Dryden laughed, walking away. Van barely caught his hazy response, "Trust you to…"

He strained to get up but Hitomi—yeah, that was her name, wasn't it—had a surprisingly forceful grip on his shoulder, keeping him leaning against the metal railing. "Give yourself a minute to adjust. You've had a pretty big shock. Here, drink this." His eyesight improved marginally as he saw a white enamel mug pass from Dryden's hand to Hitomi's before she pressed it into his own grasp. "Sip slowly."

Taking a tentative sniff, he surmised that the clear liquid was most likely water, unless Dryden had some very high quality vodka stored somewhere close at hand. For a _non-human_ he definitely seemed the type to have a twisted sense of humour. But Van gingerly took a sip and found it was indeed water. After that he gulped the rest of the liquid down greedily, his throat feeling unnaturally parched.

His mind raced with questions but he no idea how to express anything. It was also rather distracting having Hitomi kneel beside him, staring at him with clear concern and a hint of something, something lurking in her gaze he couldn't quite comprehend. Something unclear, but _he_ was far more concerned with his breathing and not hitting the ground with his ass again. Finishing the last drop of water, he placed the mug down on the metal grating floor beside him and managed to croak, "Bigger on the inside."

Hitomi smiled at him in a way that really had nothing to do with his irregular heartbeat. It was all shock he told himself. But she did look rather pretty with the _alien_ light in the control room they were in. Dryden however seemed less interested as he made another circuit of the circular controls, passing them by and muttering, almost tiredly, "Bigger on the inside. They say it like _I'm_ supposed to be surprised. Humans."

Van watched the _alien_ leave his line of sight, sighing as he fiddled with more strange gadgets on the console, still trying to take it all in. Even though there was a woman by his side, who seemed perfectly capable of answering his questions he addressed the apparent _advanced being_. "So you're a Timelord. What does that mean?"

Seemingly nothing was as it seemed. Instead of being ignored as he expected, Dryden turned and walked towards him, crouching before him and taking the stethoscope out of Hitomi's grip before handing it to him. He blinked in confused reply, not sure what exactly the _Timelord_ wanted him to do. It was clear however, that Dryden had little to no patience for misunderstanding as he mimed with great exaggeration what he wanted Van to do.

He gritted his teeth at being mocked by someone who seemed to lord it over as a _superior_ being. But he did as Dryden bade him. The stethoscope buds were put in his ears and he placed the chest piece over Dryden's shirt where his heart should have been. A second later he heard the rhythmic sound of a pulmonary muscle beating at a _human_ speed. Raising an eyebrow he watched Dryden jerk his head silently to the left.

Van moved the stethoscope to the other side of his chest, not expecting anything revelatory. He barely caught the smug smile on the spectacled being's face as his own jaw dropped. It was instinctive, having been ensconced by scientific theories and research, checking the results. After three occasions of moving the stethoscope from one side of his chest to the other he found himself unable to form words.

He barely felt the highly patronizing pat to the head from Dryden as he moved away. Van only came back from his daze as he heard Hitomi speak. "He has a binary vascular system. It's usually how he identifies himself with the UN and such. Because he looks like a human."

"You look like Timelords." Dryden replied loftily.

"You have _two hearts._" He managed to get out, sounding almost afraid of saying it. Once he had said it, Van waited for the inevitable laughter. For someone to swat him over the head or on the arm and ask if he was sane. He didn't know if fate was being kind or not as no one bothered to correct him or even laugh. The only response he got was from Dryden, "Well now that's clear, shall we get going?"

"Going? Where? Where are you going?" He couldn't disguise the note of panic rising in his voice and he was hardly cowardly for feeling so. He was talking to an alien, in an alien ship and they now said they were leaving. Hitomi apparently didn't hear him as she was no longer in sight. His feeling of panic only deepened as he slowly stood up and found she wasn't in the room at all.

After a second or two of craning his neck he found that there was a staircase the opposite side from the door that led under the control room. Suddenly being left alone with an _alien_ felt a great deal more threatening than he had first thought. Not that he had had the luxury of much time to entertain any notions about Dryden. It was so strange to say it, but he did. "Where's the Timelord planet?"

It was a tiny spark of gratification, but it eased the terror loose in his mind as Dryden looked up at him and smiled. "My home is called Gallifrey. It's in a nebula about 6,000 light years away. Your probes and telescopes haven't _discovered_ it yet. Probably give it a string of numbers and letters when they do. But even if you did, I'm sure you humans wouldn't see its true nature. You still believe Mars is devoid of life."

"There are Martians?" Came tumbling from his mouth and Van couldn't seem to care that he sounded like a child who had just met Santa and was discussing how he knew who was good and bad. It was all too surreal. Dryden snorted, before turning to touch the screen in numerous patterns, causing whirring and clicking sounds to echo in the cavernous room. "_Yes_ there are Martians. Boring lot though. Don't get out much. They do enjoy their Sudoku though."

A question bubbling in his throat fizzled out as the sound of boots reverberated in the room, Hitomi climbing the stairs with another mug, steam pouring out of it. She walked over to him and held out the mug, "It's tea. Thought it might help your stomach." Van reached for it, but stopped all of sudden. She didn't meet his gaze, looking at a spot over his shoulder on the sloping walls. Suspicion buzzed in his mind and he spoke without thinking.

"How do I know you're human?" His gaze narrowed he caught her gaze meeting his momentarily before she looked away again but her face gave her away. She was shocked. Was she human? Dryden's booming laugh did nothing for his nerves but he watched the Timelord approach with the stethoscope again. He offered it out to Van but he shook his head. "One heart proves nothing."

His irritation fizzled into life as he watched the spectacled alien smirk before nodding and murmuring to the girl he no longer understood, almost as if he wasn't there. "Maybe you were right. It's an intelligent question. He's not one to trick easy. Well, it'll make our poker games more interesting." For some reason Van took the mug from Hitomi despite the strange comment from Dryden, looking at her again. He was surprised to see what he thought was disappointment. Why was she—

"_Preliminary scan of the TARDIS. Findings: One Timelord. One human."_ Van flinched at the mechanical voice, genderless and without tone that was used in lifts and on trains. Now staring with abject wariness at the _girl_ who had given him a cup of tea, he tried not to seem afraid. _"Female. One human. Male. End of Findings."_

"There's no poison in it." She muttered and moved away from him to the door and stepped outside. Van clenched the mug handle tightly, not so oblivious to misinterpret her exit. Dryden it seemed was highly amused by his rather disturbing cackle. Sullenly he sipped at the tea and felt a wave of guilt plummet into his gut. It was excellent tea. Just how he liked it.

"Well I must say that was extravagantly entertaining. I do hope you will agree to travel with us Van. My comments barely annoy her anymore. This is better than Shakespeare. And that programme with Paris Hilton. Even with the UN and such, you're still so tactless to one another. Ignorant too." Van sipped his tea in silence, feeling inordinately guilty and decided to step outside. He prayed to whatever gods were up there, whatever gods that _existed_ that she wasn't crying. He didn't know how to deal with crying people.

Ignoring the snort and mumbled comments from the _alien_ he pushed the wooden door open and stepped outside the Phone Box. _Bigger on the inside_. The floor no longer writhed with cables. But he had other things to think about. To his surprise and somewhat relief, Hitomi wasn't crouched on the floor somewhere sobbing at the unintentional insult. Not that she seemed that kind of girl.

Instead she was at the panel by the far wall. The fire hazard that had scared the bejeezus out of him. She seemed to be rearranging the cables to an orderly state and he blinked as the room was flooded with halogen light from the ceiling, muting the Phone Box's red glow. He watched, still drinking what was rather marvellous tea as she carefully slotted the wall panel back to its rightful place.

Again she had her tongue caught between her teeth as she managed to manoeuvre the tile right back into place. He was amazed that it looked completely unharassed. As if there had been no illegal misdeeds whatsoever. His essay was no longer on his mind as he watched the very confident woman turn to face him with a smile which disappeared instantly.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Better to ask than to assume and be kidnapped and probed in painful places." He blinked in surprise by her words, even though they were uncomfortably toneless. Van was no good in arguments. Well, never when he was the one in the wrong. It was why he had crossed the continent for College.

"The tea's good. Thank you." Hitomi tilted her head a fraction before asking with hesitance clear in her tone.

"So are you going to come?"

"Come? Come where?" His mind was overloading with the sudden reality of extraterrestrial life. Martians for God's sake. And spaceships. _Time Machines._ Surely he could be forgiven for not instantly understanding what Hitomi was asking.

Apparently her anger or gloom faded as she smiled rather cheekily. "In the TARDIS. See the stars. The past, the…Actually no. I shouldn't be saying this. The propaganda is Dryden's forte and he'd hate me if I took it from him. Let him persuade you." Without another word she strode off, past him and back into the Phone Box.

Van followed but not before he walked round the Phone Box a second time. Stepping inside he let Dryden's laugh bounce off him as the Timelord asked genially, "Just checking it was real?"

He nodded, allowing himself a small smile before replying, "Yeah, making sure I wasn't inhaling noxious fumes." Even Hitomi laughed at his feeble joke, taking the empty mug from his hands almost psychically.

He watched as she passed the mug to Dryden who placed it on the console. "Well, Van Fanel. Today you are a very lucky man indeed. I offer you the chance to see the stars, walk in the shadows of the past, the glimmers of the future. And if you're very lucky we'll make a trip to the best restaurant in the Universe."

"We _still_ haven't got there." Hitomi chipped in, sitting on the raised armchair, swivelling gently from one side to the other. Van couldn't help but stare at the rather stirring patent leather knee length boots she wore over black jeans.

Blinking to adjust, he caught Dryden glare playfully at his _companion_, replying, "It's not my fault. And I could be wrong. It might not be the best restaurant in the Universe any more. Anyway, Draconian cuisine is much nicer, cheaper too."

"Draconian?" Van asked, again lost in the conversation but it no longer seemed to anger him as much, it was very intriguing. Dryden nodded, replying, "Few galaxies away. Draconia is somewhat like Feudal Japan. No reason why. Sheer coincidence. Although the people are amphibious. Still, they have some wonderful Matsuri. Maybe we should go there. Hitomi-chan?"

Hitomi smiled and shook her head almost regretfully, "You're forgetting. You still have to pick up our fourth passenger." Dryden nodded then turned to him, asking, "Will you be our third?"

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Next chapter: We meet a Knight…A Knight of Time. ^^

**Again feel free to ask any questions if you're confused, baffled or generally lost in space ;) And yes I do like bad puns. I always enjoy hearing comments, thoughts and where you think this is going. **

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Thanks go to:

Mysisterisasquijum

thepinkmartini

effervesence

Utuu

Jav-chan

Storms-winter

Tanwen Whitefire

Lil' Dinky

Rockin Sockin Robot

ChiKa YuMe

chibimimi


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